Zodiacs – Don’t Change On Me

Before I talk about this week’s selection I want to give you a little bit of info regarding a few things I’m working on. I’ll have a couple of gigs coming up over the next month or so and when the posters/flyers are finalised I’ll be sure to advertise them here. I’m also trying to piece together some dates for an upcoming tour of the U.S. in September – if you know of any nights/venues in San Francisco, San Diego or New York please drop me a line. I’ve one or two other things that I’m working on and it will be very exciting if they come off – but I can’t reveal any details until it’s all agreed, so watch this space!

Anyway, on to today’s selection and there isn’t much to say about this record other than the fact it is a monster funk tune!! This one is highly sought after by the funk djs and has had a reissue on the Tramp label recently due to the high price for an original and the fact that it rarely comes up for sale. This is probably one of my most valuable records and something that I luckily managed to buy for substantially under the normal selling price (lucky me!!)

Unusually for me (and probably most records), the “Hey Rough Nut” A-side is the instrumental track and it’s the b-side (with singing!!) that is the one I much prefer. Also rather strangely, this has become quite popular on the Northern Soul scene – I guess it’s one of those funk records that crosses over to both scenes. This may be part of the reason for the high value – thosegoddamsoulboys!!

The Classitors – Gettin’ T’Gether, Man

Every now and then you manage to find a copy of a track that has been on the wants list for quite a while and it fills you with a sense of satisfaction. Today’s record is one such example. What makes this purchase even more welcome is paying substantially under the going rate and realising that not only have you ticked off a long-term want, but you’ve also landed yourself a bargain in the process (I’m  sure this is something that the record buyers among you fully understand!!)

I’ve seen that this song has featured on the Northern Soul scene over the years which seems a little bit of a surprise to me as I consider it a bona fide funk record (just listen to the break about 1 minute in for confirmation!!)Maybe that may explain why it’s become “in demand” and fairly valuable over the years… I don’t happen to know much about The Classitors (or indeed Tyrone who is credited on the flip) but I do know this record was released in 1970 from a pretty small record label out of New Jersey.

I’d advised cranking this one up and preparing to engage in some serious hip-drops!

Johnny Blue & The Providers – Crazy, Crazy

I hope you all had a great weekend and have arrived into Monday in fine fettle! My weekend was spent catching up with old friends that I haven’t seen in a while (yes there was some alcohol taken!) and I find myself both tired this Monday evening and somewhat lacking in my usual creative writing – however I hope the tune I bring you will more than compensate for any obvious writer’s block that I might display!

This selection is another one that is filed under the “record that I know virtually nothing about” category. In my personal opinion it’s one of those records that any serious rare/deep funk aficionado should have in their collection. I picked my “minty” copy up a while back but in recent times it’s started to hit the £50+ mark for one in good condition (although someone is currently trying to sell a copy online for £195 – I don’t think so!!)

So what do you get for your £50 (or £195)? Well this is heavy on the old hammond organ (you know I’m a sucker for that sound), nice horn work and pounding drums but it has been recorded in a way that makes it sound like a live track due to what sounds like an audience in the background (though I’m not sure it actually was live, I think the sounds may have been added in later in the mixing). One thing I should add about this song is that there is quite a bizarre video attached to it on youtube – I have no idea what the correlation between song & video is!!

I hope to be able to bring you a guest contributor in the next couple of weeks as it’s been quite a while since my last one and it’ll also be a good opportunity for me to take a break and get my creative juices flowing again! In the meantime, enjoy this one! 

The Flirtations – Nothing But A Heartache

Before I start talking about today’s chosen song I have an admission to make -Northern Soul is a genre of music I’ve never been particularly keen on. I know it’s hugely popular and has had a particular renaissance in the last few years but I’ve found that I’ve had to wade through a massive amount of rubbish to find one decent tune. I know plenty of people who are huge fans but I’ve always been more excited by the rawer, and dare I say it more “black” sound of funk.

Despite that, I do still own records that would fit under the “Northern” tag and today’s selection is one such track. This song has been huge on the Northern scene for a long time and the intro is a killer which still sounds fantastic blaring out of a good sound system. It is a bit more on the funky edge of Northern Soul in comparison to something like “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me” by The Tams or “At The Top Of The Stairs” by The Formations.

This will be one of the few times I’ll post a “Northern” tune so any fans out there crank this one up and backdrop your way around the living room!

Before I go, I just want to let you know about a guest radio show appearance I’ll be doing this weekend. I’ll be spinning some records on my good buddy Dr Kruger’s “House Call” show this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on London’s NTS Radio. You can access the show online by clicking this link http://ntslive.co.uk/

Jackie Wilson – Hum De Dum De Do

This week I bring you one of the heavyweights of soul music and one of the artists largely credited with taking the traditional sound of r&b and creating what became known as “soul” music, the one and only “Mr Excitement” – Mr Jackie Wilson.

Now, as much as I’m all about the lesser-known soul & funk artists it’s hard to ignore the contributions made by those pioneers of the black music scene and they surely deserve a tribute as much as anyone else. To that end, it would be easy for me to have featured any one of Mr Wilson’s huge hits from his vast back catalogue (including “Reet Petite”, “I Get The Sweetest Feeling”, “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher”) but those tracks have all been featured extensively on other blogs and radio shows over the years. This selection is one of the lesser-known singles that gets relatively little spins and is still easily purchased for peanuts.

Throughout his career Wilson recorded songs in a vast array of styles including r&b, pop, doo-wop,rock & roll and crooner style easy listening. But by the time of the mid/late 60s he was in full-on soul mode and today’s track is arguably the funkiest of all the records he cut around this time. I could probably detail Wilson’s personal life (both good and bad) but I guess the story of his life would probably be better served as a motion picture rather than condensed into a blog post. Suffice to say, for all his faults Jackie Wilson ranks for me as arguably the most exciting performer in black music (alongside James Brown) with one of the most distinctive voices in music.

So crank up the volume on this one and understand why he was so deserving of the title “Mr Entertainer” 

The Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind

When I was thinking of what I was going to bring you this week on the blog, it struck me that up until now I had hardly featured (if at all) some northern soul. So I figured it was about time I put that right as I have quite a few friends who are more than partial to a little bit of northern.

I have to admit to not being a huge fan personally. In my experience I’ve had to wade through a lot of records to find something of sufficient quality or to my taste, though thankfully this selection comes up trumps on both counts.

The Exciters originally started out as an all-girl group with their first hit coming in 1962 – the Leiber & Stoller penned “Tell Him”. Shortly after they recorded the original version of “Do Wah Diddy” (’63 in fact), which as I’m sure you all know became a massive hit a few years later for Manfred Mann.

This selection was released in ’69 and pretty much flopped – however, by the early 70s it was picked up by the northern soul scene and became hugely popular amongst soulboys in England. The track itself is quite mid-tempo and to my ears there is a slight reggae feel to it, however it still has that northern sound to it.

The Kittens – Ain’t No More Room

So I’m finally back after my 2 week trip around Europe. I must say for any of you yet to travel to Berlin,  it’s a must visit. They are certainly keeping the spirit of rare soul and funk alive. Big shout out to the guys at Soulkombinat & Soul Explosion for two great nights.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand and this week’s update. This track is something that despite being on the Chess label I only came across 3 or 4 years ago. After a long search for a copy I was delighted to finally pick up one about 6 months back.

The Kittens recording career started back in ’64 when they were signed to the ABC/Paramount label by the legendary Johnny Pate. They cut a limited number of singles without any major success before joining the legendary Chess label in ’68, where they released this choice along with a few others.

By this stage the Chess label’s sound had changed dramatically from the blues of Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters et al to the more soulful sounds of Etta James and Little Milton amongst others. This musical change is equally reflected in this cut by The Kittens.

Enjoy!

Debbie Taylor – Don’t Let It End

Whilst most of the stuff we’ve brought you on Gazfunk thus far undoubtedly falls under the funk umbrella, we are a funk AND soul blog so to that end, this update brings a fantastic piece of club soul.

I first came across this song a few years ago due to a good friend of mine who was a big fan of Miss Taylor’s since he first heard “Just Don’t Pay” way back in the 80’s. As a result of that one song he embarked on a mission to acquire all of her 45s, which he has now subsequently completed. After hearing a number of these tracks, I was struck by her powerful vocals, however many of the tracks were ballads and they just didn’t flight my kite.

This song though is a whole different beast – it really is a classic slice of club soul that would (should) go down well in any soul club around the world.

Danny White – The Twitch

Well, it’s about time we all went on another little trip to funky, funky New Orleans.

Danny White was born in New Orleans in 1931 and was a member of the legendary Huey “Piano” Smith’s band. His first solo release was in 1961 on the Dot label called “Give A Take”. He went on to release a further 15 singles but gained little commercial success. However his 1966 release”Cracked Up Over You” became a massively popular floorshaker on the northern soul scene showing that despite his lack of chart success, he still found fame amongst soul fans in the North of England. 

With the release in 2000 of the excellent Soul Jazz Records compilation “New Orleans Funk” and the subsequent follow-up “Saturday Night Fish Fry”, White and many other New Orleans’ artists little-known gems were brought to the public’s attention.

This week’s cut, was selected for the New Orleans Funk Vol 2 compilation that was released a few years ago. The track itself was recorded in ’63 and as you would expect has more of an r&b groove, rather than the northern soul/funk sound that he was noted for.